Ms Ann Nolan:

The Deputy asked about the drafting of the legislation. Towards the end of September, after a number of discussions with various parties involved, it became clear that it might be a viable option. The first heads of Bill were done in our Department at the end of September. We were in negotiations with the Office of the Attorney General and the Bill was entirely drafted between our Department and the Attorney General's office. We had a first draft that was workable by the middle of October, which we revised a number of times to produce an improved final draft. We were very conscious that we had a drop-dead date of March and we did not know how long it would take to build some sort of consensus by which the ECB would be willing to note it - which it did in the end, although it did not agree it - and we did not want any fall-down on our part if that happened.